I didn’t want to bog down the compulsory education thread so I’m pulling this out. What should the focus of our public schools be? The development of responsible citizens with job skills, or simply to provide the traditional basic core of education that pertains to job skills?
The pertinent quotes:
I’ve seen this sentiment in other education threads as well. The only thing our schools should be focused on is (now I’m admittedly reading between the lines here) a core set of traditional subjects.
From the discussions I’ve had with the educators I know, the realities in classrooms are that, while that would be great - it is not possible. The ‘education only’ mindset requires that students have a basic understanding of community, appropriate behavior in a community and social norms when they arrive in the classroom. This core knowledge doesn’t exist with every student, so time needs to be taken to educate those who don’t yet possess that knowledge. I don’t understand the anger at that or the references to indoctrination. I didn’t figure social skills and understanding how to work and communicate in a group would be controversial, but apparently it is. Why is that? And what is your take on the question of the role of public education? Are my educator friends off their collective rocker?